Glossary
Allah:
The one true God, the Creator, Who has no partners. This name is used by Muslims as well as Arabs of other religions to refer to God.

apostle:
An envoy or messenger. In Christian tradition, Jesus chose twelve of his disciples to be apostles, meaning those who were sent to preach his teachings. In addition, Paul is described as an apostle because of the belief that he was also appointed by Jesus to do so.

disciple:
A follower or adherent of a teacher. In Christian tradition, the word refers to the closest followers of Jesus during his lifetime.

ecclesiastical:
Of or relating to a church.

ecumenical councils:
A series of historical conferences in which Christian leaders and scholars convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice.

Epistle:
A letter. The Epistles in the New Testament are letters written by Paul and other apostles to Christian communities or individuals.

Injeel:
An Arabic word referring to the divine message revealed to Jesus; it is often translated incorrectly as “Gospel.” It is no longer existing.

Gospel:
Literally, “good news.” The four canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the story of Jesus’ life and are part of the New Testament. They are narratives of incidents from the life of Jesus, written decades after his death by authors who had never met him.

indulgence:
In the Catholic church, originally a remission of punishment for sins, for which the recipient had to perform certain good deeds such as prayers, pilgrimages, or donating money for a good cause. By the late Middle Ages, the practice was routinely abused by those in power as a way to raise funds for building cathedrals or mounting the Crusades. The perception that this was simply a means of buying a pardon was one of the main factors that prompted the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation.

jinn:
invisible created beings made from smokeless fire; they are accountable just as humans are.

monotheist:
One who believes that God is one in His essence and that He alone is deserving of worship, to the exclusion of all others. This is the opposite of the polytheist, who ascribes partners to God in His essence or worships others alongside God.

New Testament:
The second part of the Christian Bible, originally written in Greek after Jesus had left the earth. It is considered sacred by Christians and consists of twenty-seven books: the four canonical Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the fourteen Epistles of Paul, seven other Epistles, and the Book of Revelation.

Old Testament:
The first part of the Christian Bible, written over centuries by different authors but regarded by Christians as having been divinely inspired. Christian denominations agree on thirty-nine of the Books in the Old Testament, but some denominations include up to ten more.

Pharisees:
Members of a Jewish sect who separated themselves from others and were seen as self-righteous about their outward adherence to piety and religiosity; they persecuted Jesus and the early Christians. Paul was a Pharisee before converting to Christianity. Today, the word is used to describe those who are sanctimonious and hypocritical.

prophet:
An individual sent by God to convey and teach His message and to act as a role model